On 16 January the article was published about current endurance season in UAE on website grandprix-replay.com.

There is one paragraph in this article that highlighted the ugly truth of endurance sport as well as any kind of professional sport:

Unfortunately, the FEI can do little to stop large amounts of foreign riders accepting invitations to compete, many of whom are no doubt lured by the €25’000 guaranteed prize money just for completing. This amount seems to be enough to draw support from all over the world (including the UK) which unfortunately lends some credibility to endurance racing in public perception.

You can continue to post infinite number of articles about “shame on UAE” but the money talks.

Last World Endurance Championship, for example, offered prize money for amount of 23,200 EUR.

Sixth finished rider of World Championship got the prize money 500 EUR which is less than entry fee 650 EUR. This is ridiculous.

The UAE is the only country that spends millions for promoting this sport.

Any sport should at least cover the costs, and the big prize money is a good thing because it attracts more and more athletes and promotes the sport.

Like any equestrian discipline, Endurance is not a cheap sport, and it’s really great that there is such person as Sheikh Mohammed who supports athletes and spends a lot of money on the development of the sport.